South Korea Shares May Find Traction On Monday

(RTTNews) - The South Korea stock market has ticked lower in four straight sessions, sinking more than 35 points or 1.4 percent along the way. The KOSPI now sits just beneath the 2,550-point plateau although it may halt its slide on Monday.

The global forecast for the Asian markets is cautiously optimistic, with bargain hunting expected to support the more oversold bourses. The European and U.S. markets were up and the Asian markets figure to open in similar fashion.

The KOSPI finished barely lower on Friday following losses from the technology stocks and automobile companies, while the financial and chemical shares were mixed.

For the day, the index eased 0.58 points or 0.02 percent to finish at 2,547.68. Volume was 386.53 million shares worth 7.52 trillion won. There were 608 decliners and 267 gainers.

Among the actives, Shinhan Financial rose 0.14 percent, while KB Financial fell 0.18 percent, Hana Financial collected 0.12 percent, Samsung Electronics eased 0.14 percent, Samsung SDI slumped 1.01 percent, LG Electronics skidded 1.00 percent, SK Hynix plummeted 4.05 percent, Naver declined 0.69 percent, LG Chem tanked 2.25 percent, Lotte Chemical climbed 1.31 percent, S-Oil perked 0.13 percent, SK Innovation dropped 0.98 percent, POSCO rallied 2.64 percent, SK Telecom jumped 1.35 percent, KEPCO soared 3.43 percent, Hyundai Mobis lost 0.63 percent, Hyundai Motor sank 0.80 percent and Kia Motors shed 0.64 percent.

The lead from Wall Street suggests mild upside as the major averages opened in the green on Friday and spent all of the day in positive territory, although they ended well off session highs.

The Dow gained 75.89 points or 0.22 percent to finish at 34,576.59, while the NASDAQ rose 12.73 points or 0.09 percent to close at 13,761.53 and the S&P 500 gained 6.35 points or 0.14 percent to end at 4,457.49. For the week, the NASDAQ tumbled 1.9 percent, the S&P 500 slumped 1.3 percent and the Dow slid 0.8 percent.

The modest strength on Wall Street partly reflected bargain hunting, as some traders pick up stocks at reduced levels following recent weakness. The uptick by the NASDAQ snapped a four-day losing streak.

Some traders may also have felt concerns about the outlook for interest rates, which contributed to the recent weakness, have been overdone.

While recent economic data has led to worries the Federal Reserve may leave rates higher for longer than previously anticipated, the central bank is still widely expected to keep rates unchanged later this month.

Crude oil prices climbed on Friday amid concerns about tightening oil supplies following Russia and Saudi Arabia's decision last week to extend their supply cut to the end of the year. West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October rose $0.64 or 0.7 percent at $87.51 a barrel.